In the music studio of his grandmother's Beverly home, Micah Collier stands almost as tall as the upright bass that has become his voice, his purpose and, at times, his best friend.

Eyes closed, arms wrapped around the biggest string instrument known to jazz outside of a piano, his fingers deftly work with accuracy and compassion. The chords project into the room, eliciting toe taps and thigh pats and the kind of head rocking that takes onlookers to a new place.

When he finishes, he looks up and says, with all the poise of a band leader, "That's a wonderful jazz standard called 'Beatrice' by Sam Rivers. It's a song about his wife."

Micah is 17 and a veteran of the Chicago jazz scene.

Although he's not old enough to gain entry as a patron, the senior at Chicago Academy for the Arts has become a familiar face at several Chicago clubs, including Andy's Jazz Club, Norman's Bistro, The Jazz Showcase and Room 43.

He is set to take the stage at Andy's at 9:30 Thursday night.

"I get carded," says his father, Brian Collier, a lifelong musician who works in restorative justice at Collier and Associates. "And he walks right in. I say, 'Hey, I'm with him — the musician.'"

Building on a legacy

Micah's journey to jazz began at his grandmother's piano. Versoal Collier taught music education for Chicago Public Schools and has been a longtime organ player at New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church on 77th Street.

"My son played drums, sax and bass guitar. My daughter played piano and flute," Versoal Collier said. "Micah kind of sneaked up on me. I think he's phenomenal. His talent seemed to come out of nowhere."

Piano led to drum lessons, which led to electric bass, Micah said.

"I started in seventh grade but didn't get seriously dedicated to it until late eighth grade or summer of freshman year. In high school, I was introduced to the upright bass," Micah said.

Around the end of freshman year his family rented the typically 6-foot-tall instrument.

"At first I thought 'No, it's too big. I don't want to carry it around. I'll just stick with the electric bass. But everyone was telling me if you want to play jazz you gotta play the upright bass," he said.

It took him awhile to get the position right, to get his posture the way it needed to be. "I went through a period when my fingers were just nasty with big blood blisters because the strings are harder on the upright," he said.

All the while, because his school's curriculum requires him to have a foundation in classical music, he was also learning how to play various percussion instruments, including drums, marimba and timpany. "All that cool stuff," he said.

But his focus was the upright bass. There were times, particularly when carting his massive instrument around town that he wondered if he shouldn't ditch it for a piano, he said.

"They always have a piano there already. You don't have to carry it or anything," he said.

But it was the cumbersome, challenging bass that opened doors and landed him on the jazz scene. And that, he says, has changed everything.

"Micah was a really shy kid," says his mom, Colette Thelemaque-Collier, vice president of school age and teen programs at YMCA.

"As he's matured first with electric bass and now upright, he has found his voice. And as his skill deepened on bass so has his comfort with speaking to the world," she said. "Even now when he plays his eyes are closed and he's deeply passionate and he's communicating. Now the world sees him through his music and his speech. Music is his best friend."

From Coltrane to Glasper

"I was very nervous as a child. I would be the kid hiding behind everybody during the Easter speeches at church," Micah said. "I'd cry for 15 minutes and my mom would make me go up and give the speech anyway.

Gary Middendorf/Daily Southtown

Colette Thelemaque-Collier and Brian Collier watch their son Micah Collier play “Beatrice” on his practice bass in their Beverly home. March 20th, 2018.

Colette Thelemaque-Collier and Brian Collier watch their son Micah Collier play “Beatrice” on his practice bass in their Beverly home. March 20th, 2018.

(Gary Middendorf/Daily Southtown)

He remembers being "oh so scared" during his first jam session at Andy's, an opportunity that he said was brought to his attention by mentor Charles Heath.

"I was scared. I was messing up notes, big time. (Heath) gave this whole speech about me. My nerves were shaking. I kept thinking, 'Stop talking, stop talking.'"

Afterward, he said, "It felt really good. I guess I did a good job because he called me back week after week. In addition to playing at school concerts, I started getting morning gigs, late night gigs, yacht gigs, park gigs. And over time the nervousness and fear of crowds just went away."

Jazz has brought him a confidence and a love for improvisation, not to mention the ability to take constructive criticism from his predominantly adult colleagues.

"I'd say less than 5 percent of the players in the clubs are high school age," he said.

Rose Colella, music department chair at the Academy, said, "I've never seen a high school student at Micah's level of prominence in performing within the community. Just three years ago, he wasn't even sure how to walk a bass line. Now, with the the incredible training he's received from Joe Policastro and John Sims at The Chicago Academy for the Arts, along with his classes in theory, piano and ear training, Micah has made a name for himself as a sought-after bassist on the professional jazz scene in Chicago."

The experience has also helped him find a path to adulthood. Already accepted to Berklee College in Boston, Micah is waiting to hear from three other schools, including two in New York and the Brubeck Institute in California.

While the Chicago scene "is like one big family; everybody knows everybody," he said, "New York is the place for jazz right now."

Micah intends to study jazz composition and music therapy in college. "One of my goals is to make others feel good. Music can be everyone's escape from the real world. I want to help people get over whatever they're going through with music," he said.

His bio on Andy's website describes his mission: "Micah Collier's AlécTeT (band) brings a new resonance to contemporary jazz. Bridging the classic sounds of John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Thelonious Monk with the eclectic ease of Robert Glasper to create his unique sound of Jazz Fusion."

AlécTeT, made up of other young musicians Micah has met in recent years, "strives to expand the understanding of jazz to be inclusive of other genres," Micah said.

Chris Chisholm, managing owner of Andy's, said, Micah's two-show gig Thursday is a "one-off," but he has plans to put the band in the regular lineup.

He remembers Micah and his cousin, saxophonist Isaiah Collier (now at college), sitting in on jam sessions "since they were able to hold an instrument."

While the sessions are open to all ages, Chisholm said, most of the younger artists aren't seasoned in terms of how to market themselves when applying for a gig.

"It's really, really difficult because we have such a great plethora of musicians here in town that are already established and that have played with us over the years. So it's hard for us as a venue to make the room to bring young talent in," he said. "But if they happen to have a full-on band ... and if they hit us up with the right info for us to take them into consideration, we never shy away from putting something new up on stage."

Chisholm said, "For being so young, Micah's already got it down as to how to be a professional. He takes everything seriously and has fun doing it at the same time, which is a tough thing to find in any age musician let alone a teenager who's still in high school. He is the consummate professional already and extremely talented to boot."

Gary Middendorf/Daily Southtown

Micah Collier plays his practice bass in his family's music studio. March 20th, 2018.

Micah Collier plays his practice bass in his family's music studio. March 20th, 2018.

(Gary Middendorf/Daily Southtown)

The style of music that Micah is playing, Chisholm said, is "what's happening right now. It's kind of an homage back to hard bop and bop days but it's also fusing things and making it a little bit more contemporary.

"What music and what jazz is transitioning into is a melding of all different styles," he said. "They're taking from all different areas of the musical spectrum ... and making it their own, which is a whole lot of fun."

Micah is also working on an album.

"I was afraid of writing my own music for a long time," he said. "Then, sophomore year, people were telling me I should start writing. I said, 'OK, we'll see how it goes.' Now, I can't stop writing music. There's a lot of things in my head just popping up. I'll be in the car and hear birds chirping and it'll give me a rhythm to write down."

Micah is involved with the Jazz Institute of Chicago, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, the Hyde Park Jazz Society, and he plays regularly at his church, Praise Alive Christian Center in Calumet City. He recently performed at Jazzapalooza at Trinity United Church in Chicago. He called it "a smaller version of Chicago's jazz fest," but it drew almost 2,000 people.

"I played in front of all of them," he said. "It was a lot of fun. I wasn't nervous at all."

'Stay in the music'

As Micah's fingers have gotten stronger, so has his resolve.

The family moved in with Versoal Collier recently after violence began escalating in their neighborhood, northeast of the matriarch's home.

"We actually had a bullet come through the window, which traumatized Micah," Colette Thelemaque-Collier said.

Now, with Brian's sister just a few doors down, Colette Thelemaque-Collier said the family is enjoying "communal living."

The move has enabled both Micah and his little brother, 7-year-old Mahari, to concentrate on their studies and their music.

Despite his jazz heavy resume, Micah says, "I don't like to classify any type of music or classify myself. All genres give me that good feeling.

"Once I step on the bandstand and start playing those first few notes, everything just fades away. I'm in the moment. I don't worry about what anyone else is saying. I don't worry about the test I forgot to turn in. I don't worry about the dishes I forgot to wash at home," he said. "I just stay in the music."

His dad believes his son has spent his entire existence "in the music."

Even before he was born, Micah would respond when his father played Earth, Wind & Fire's "September" by pressing his feet against his mom's belly.

"That's the way he would speak to us, even in the womb," he said.

Now, poised to start a new chapter, Micah says he is mindful of where he came from and of giving back.

"Music is a lifestyle. I wake up listening to music. I go to sleep listening to music. Throughout the day, I listen to music. My life revolves around music," he said.

But he realizes music is best served when it's shared.

So, he is now mentoring a sophomore at his school to take his place on upright bass.

"I'm sure there are a lot of kids who are serious about music but don't know it yet. They need somebody to give them that push. Before I go off to college, I need to invest in younger kids — my brother, too," he said.

An ultimate dream? To one day start a music school, he said, and get kids off the streets.